One of the major drawbacks of boost-based power factor correction (PF) rectifiers is their bulky and heavy inductor significantly affecting the cost of overall system and preventing its use in weight and volume sensitive applications. The large boost inductor also causes non-negligible core losses and results in a relatively large parasitic capacitance of the winding. This capacitance allows high frequency current to flow through the line EMI filter, increasing its size.
Another problem of the conventional boost-based topologies is switching tosses, causing heat dissipation problems whose handling often requires bulky and costly cooling components. The switching losses are mostly related to the operation of the semiconductor switches at relatively high switching voltages. Moreover, one of the main drawbacks of PFC rectifiers for boost converters operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM) is the bulky boot inductor, which is one of the main contributors to the overall weight, volume, and cost of the entire system.
To minimize the size of boost-based PFC inductors and reduce losses, a number of methods have been proposed. However, these methods have limitations.
There is therefore a need for an improved method and system for regulation of multi-level boost-based power factor correction rectifiers.